The Marlins have announced that they’ve designated catcher Jhonatan Solano for assignment. The move clears space on the team’s roster for lefty Justin Nicolino, who will start today.
The 29-year-old Solano, a light hitter even by backup catcher standards, has collected just one hit in 21 plate appearances this season. He’s a career .240/.285/.345 hitter in about two seasons’ worth of plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He had already been outrighted once this year, but the Marlins selected his contract again this week as J.T. Realmuto dealt with a minor back injury.
Nicolino’s start will be his big-league debut. The 23-year-old arrived in the Marlins system as part of the Jose Reyes deal in the 2012-13 offseason and has slowly made his way through the minors since then, posting a 2.87 ERA and 2.4 BB/9 but with a low 5.2 K/9 in 78 1/3 innings at Triple-A New Orleans this season.
I’m sure Mike Scioscia will be on the phone any minute now…